It's great to be back in Chicago. There seems to be a lot going on here these days. . . And it is great to see so many friends and leaders from the bar who have fought tirelessly to close achievement gaps and advance educational equity in our nation's schools.

Thank you, Thelma, for that generous introduction. I am delighted and honored to be here in Secretary Duncan's place. He has always enjoyed the opportunity to speak and meet with HBCU presidents. He sends his regrets that he could not join you. But I know that improving the education of all students—but especially for students of color--is never far from his mind.

I am delighted to be here today and to participate in this conference. There is so much that the United States has to learn from nations with high-performing education systems. And there is much that America can share from its experience to the mutual benefit of nations confronting similar educational challenges.

Today is a great day! I have looked forward to this day for a long time--and so have America's teachers, parents, students, and school leaders. Today is the day that marks the beginning of the development of a new and much-improved generation of assessments for America's schoolchildren. Today marks the start of Assessments 2.0.

This is an important day in so many respects. It is the very first federal summit on bullying. We have an extraordinary range of NGOs, corporate leaders, state and local officials on hand, as well as the members of the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Working Group.